Sharing the wealth that is water in Honduras

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You use water to shower, brush your teeth, wash your hands and, more importantly, to stay hydrated.

But you may not realize how other communities around the world do not have the same access to water.

The difference is shocking.

For communities in Honduras, most people don’t have easy access to water. Many people must walk to the nearest water source and carry 40-pound water jugs to their homes just to have water to use.

To aid in this crisis, St. Thomas University’s Global Brigades will be travelling to Honduras on April 30 to build a clean water system to help communities who lack the resources and empowerment to do it themselves.

Global Brigades not only goes into a community to fix something, but to work with the people living there until they can sustain and function on their own.

“I would definitely recommend people get involved with the organization whether or not they attend the trip. However, the trip makes it that much more fantastic,” Metcalfe says. “But working with the organization is very beneficial as well.”

To help volunteers get there this year, each person going on the trip had to raise at least $500.

Through 50/50 draws, trivia nights, coat checks at the STU Winter Gala, leaf raking, bake sales and sponsorships, the team has well surpassed it’s goal to pay for the eight volunteers.

They have raised $7,000 so far and plan to continue fundraising until they leave.

A basket is currently being raffled off made up of local items and goods, including goods from the Fredericton Farmers’ Market.

“It has really been great to see the market so welcoming and so open and willing to donate items,” Metcalfe says.

In Honduras, the group will be working with community members to find solutions that best fit their community on how to get water efficiently.

“We talk about what the system is going to do for them, we talk about what they can do, and we talk about their culture and what they are doing with water right now,” Metcalfe says.

“A clean water system really changes everything. It changes lives … because you need water to do everything, like cooking, cleaning and drinking.”

Countries like Honduras are considered underdeveloped but Metcalfe and Connell want to change how people view them.

“I just want people to realize in the STU community that water is not that easy coming and we have the ability to just go and fill up our water bottles anywhere and that we don’t think twice about it,” Metcalfe says.

Their goal is to not only help communities in Honduras, but to educate the STU community about how water is a privilege.

“It is a resource that is too often taken for granted,” Connell says.

She also says STU’s Global Brigades team is passionate about exploring global citizenship, advocating for sustainable development and reducing social inequalities.

Metcalfe says she is now conscientious when filling up her water bottle or taking a shower.

“Water doesn’t come easily to a lot of people in the world and it is really unfair because we all need water to survive.”